


Tense and Release

by showmemytarget (ghosticries)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, i just decided to write this for a friend, i'll probably have to work on it more later, it's kind of a first attempt, so consider this a first draft, so here's hoping it's actually decent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-15 09:13:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2223549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghosticries/pseuds/showmemytarget
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint Barton teaches Natasha Romanoff to use his bow. Along the way, we finally learn who his weapon of choice is named after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tense and Release

**Author's Note:**

  * For [howisthataparty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/howisthataparty/gifts).



“Easy now. Just breathe, in and out. Relax and feel the weight of the string pulling against your arm.”

  
Clint was leaning back, supported on one elbow, while his other hand held Natasha’s arm, guiding her into using proper form. She was draped across his lap, her legs over his and her right elbow resting on his shoulder. The bow in her hands was Clint’s favorite, something a mere mortal would never have been allowed to touch. Natasha, however, was no mere mortal.

  
“You know, I have used one of these before,” Natasha said without glancing up. There was an amused half-smile on her lips as she held the string back and looked through the sights. There was no arrow nocked, of course—Clint wanted her to learn how his bow felt before any actual target practice—but she still looked far better with it than he did, at least in his opinion.

  
“Not like this,” Clint said with a laugh. “I’m a little surprised you can even draw it.”

  
“It’s what, 120 kilos?” she asked, drawing back a little farther for good measure. “You of all people should know that I’m stronger than I look.”

  
“Strongest person I know,” he whispered in her ear, eliciting a delighted shiver from her. “But Sarah’s got a tendency to jump if you’re not ready for her.”

  
“You’re still calling it that?” She looked up at him with a teasing expression. “Looks like I have competition.”

  
“What, just because I have my hands all over another lady?”

  
“Well when you put it like that.” She smirked and released the string. It gave a satisfying twang and she returned her gaze to Clint. “Who is she named for, anyway?”

 

“Just a girl I knew.” Clint’s hand moved along Natasha’s arm ever so slightly, stroking her skin. “It was a long time ago.”

 

“She must have been pretty special to get a whole bow named after her.” Natasha turned, bringing their faces just inches from one another. “What’s the story?”

 

“You wouldn’t find it very interesting,” Clint said, reaching out to put a hand on the bow. He touched it like the old friend it was, something that had gotten him through more scrapes than he could count. He owed his life to that bow, and to the woman who was holding it.

 

“Try me.” She knew he could be tight-lipped about his past, and she didn’t want to pry, but she was curious. ‘Sarah’ had been in her partner’s life for as long as she could remember, and somehow the subject had never come up.

  
“Like I said, it was a long time ago,” he said, strumming the bowstring. “You know I never finished high school, right? Of course you know. You’ve read like the whole S.H.I.E.L.D. database.”

  
“Just the important parts,” she said, drawing back the bowstring again.

  
“Well. Sarah was a girl in the carnival that Barney and I joined—raise your elbow—and she took a liking to me for some reason. I still don’t get it.”

  
“Hard to imagine,” Natasha said dryly, moving her elbow as instructed. “Someone taking a liking to you? Who’d have thought.”

  
“Ha. I wasn’t my current charming self back then. I was a pissed off, messed up teenager with nothing going for me and no one looking out for me ‘cept Barney. Sarah still… it wasn’t really pity, but she sorta took me under her wing, which is funny cuz’ she was a year or so younger than I was. She had an old soul, y’know?”

 

“Stark once said something similar about me,” Natasha said with a chuckle. He wasn’t wrong: she was far older than she looked, something Clint never let her forget.

  
“Occasionally his intuition is actually right.” Clint leaned in next to Natasha, his face beside hers so that he could check her aim. “And… release.”  
Her breath hitched, but she let go of the string and managed to keep the bow steady. It seemed silly to her, how little things like closeness and whispered words could have such an effect on someone so notoriously cold and controlled. But he was Clint.  
She cleared her throat. “What did Sarah do at the circus?”

  
“Contortionist,” Clint murmured, taking the bow from her and setting it aside. His arm wrapped around his partner’s waist, almost subconsciously. She instinctively leaned back against him and tucked her head under his chin.

  
“Oh? So she was… flexible?” Her smirk was practically audible, but there was also curiosity in her voice. Sarah had clearly been more than some random fling. Clint didn’t name his weaponry after just anyone.

  
“You could say that.” He was toying with her in retaliation, though he had an ulterior motive. He hadn’t talked about Sarah with anyone other than Barney, and after so many years, it felt strange to bring the subject up at all, so he tried to dance around it. He was a professional when it came to avoidance.  
“So what earned her the namesake treatment?” Natasha asked, prodding his arm to get him to continue.

  
“She… she always thought I could do more with my life. Be more than just another carny. She was always tellin’ me I should go back to school, make something of myself.” He sighed. “Right up to the end. She, uh. She had some heart defect, I don’t know what it was. The kinda thing that kills you slow and quiet. When she died, she made me promise not to waste the time I still had. I joined the army the next day, and S.H.I.E.L.D. found me not too long after that. If it wasn’t for Sarah, I wouldn’t be who I am now.”

  
As he fell silent, Natasha stroked his arm reassuringly, as her way of thanking him for sharing with her. Clint brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, then gently nudged her forward.

 

“C’mon. Let’s see if you’re any good with actual arrows.”

  
She moved fluidly to her feet, then held out out a hand to pull Clint up as well. He had told his story, and now he wanted to move on. She knew not to push any further.

  
“Oh ye of little faith.” Natasha crossed her arms. “Shall we make it interesting?”

  
Clint raised an eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?”

  
“If I make my first shot, you buy dinner. If I miss it, I buy dinner.”

  
“You buy dinner and I get the Netflix remote and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

  
She rolled her eyes. “Agreed. Now hand me Sarah and I’ll show you how it’s done.”

 

He handed her the bow and watched as she aligned herself with the target at the far end of the room.

  
“Not quite,” he said, moving up behind her to help her adjust her stance, his hands wandering dangerously low. “Remember, elbow up. That’s it.”

  
Natasha tried to ignore his presence, and the heat that was rising through her skin. There wasn’t a chance in hell that she was going to let him win, even if he was being all… touchy.

  
“Got it, Clint,” she said quietly.

  
“You sure?” he whispered, kissing her neck softly as she took aim. His hands settled on her hips, keeping firm hold of her as his lips pressed against her skin.

  
“Are you trying to distract me?” she asked without taking her eyes off the target. Damn, he was good at this.

  
“Is it working?”

  
“What do you think?”

  
Natasha released the arrow, sending it shooting through the air until it settled into the target with a soft thump. A perfect bullseye.

  
But by then, neither partner was paying attention.


End file.
